DESCRIPTION (provide by applicant) During the past 25 years, over 200 students have received instruction in the Toxicology Training Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Among the trainees were 13 who received Master's degrees, 96 who received Ph.D. degrees, and 126 postdoctoral fellows. Contained in this proposal is a request for five additional years of funding for this program. In support of this, details are provided on recruiting and retaining students, including minority fellows. Also included are changes in the Program over the past decade, including modifications in and modernization of the curriculum. Plans for the next five years include increased efforts to recruit qualified students and fellows, a change in the administrative structure and oversight of the Program, a decrease in the amount of required coursework, the recruitment of new Program faculty, and the relocation of the Program to a new state-of-the-art research building. While faculty and course requirements continue to change to meet the needs of trainees, the Program emphasis will remain on familiarizing students with environmental issues, risk assessment strategies, and modern laboratory techniques of relevance to toxicology. Special emphasis is placed on teaching communication skills necessary for effective oral presentations and for preparing research reports and proposals. All doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows receive didactic and laboratory instruction in both basic and industrial research. The past decade has witnessed changes in the Program to modernize the training, to improve recruitment, to streamline and update courses, to increase the number of participating faculty, and to enhance student exposure to outside leaders and opportunities in the field. With the anticipated opening of the new research building in Summer 2006, and the recruitment of 10 additional faculty (six were recruited the last two years) in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, the Program is well positioned to enhance its international reputation as a center of excellence for training in toxicology.